Stunning Minimalist Tolkien Cover Series

Stunning Minimalist Tolkien Cover Series

Stunning Minimalist Tolkien Cover Series

As J R R Tolkien once wrote, "There's nothing like looking, if you want to find something". But, given that you've probably got a busy day of stuff ahead of you, you can leave the looking to us - we've got a knack for finding precious treasures, like Danika Maust's minimalist cover series.

Inspired by the stick-lick figures of the American Institute for Graphic Arts (they make signposts for the US Department of Transport), Maust set about reimagining the covers of Tolkien's greatest works, stripping down her artwork to a point where it still managed to convey something of the story within. 

"This project plays with form mashing to produce a visual code that would resonate with the most extreme Middle-earth enthusiast, and reward them for deciphering it’s meaning", writes Maust. "The illustrations vary from the more obvious to the completely abstract to reward those of all levels of Tolkien appreciation."

You can see more of Maust's work on her website.

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(Images: Danika Maust)

Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.